Blowgun as an actual survival tool or just novelty?

[Backon4]

I see this all over the place but what are the actual capabilities of a good blow gun? I was looking at this but think it would take a lot of skill or a lot of luck to kill small game. Anyone used one to kill small game? Other than the size are there any down sides?

Cold Steel® 1pc Professional .625 Caliber 4-Foot Blowgun

[Guest ADAM]

I bought myself a blow gun a while back and yes i do think that it could be use as a survival tool with the right darts and shot placement it could be very deadly. I have one that is 30" long and its very accurate

with a little practice. I have taken it to the woods with me during deer season for those slow days just to pass time, and have killed a squirrel

with it. You do have to buy the hunting darts which look like a mini broadhead, because the target darts I think would just wound the animal

and die a slow death for they are just a straight needle. With the hunting darts you can pierce straight thru a metal soup can, and easily thru the hide of small game. The squirrel that i shot was about ten feet from me and the dart buried all the way in him, he ran about 30 feet and flopped and died. They do take alot

of practice to be consistantly accurate. They will only shootabout 20-30 feet with enough force to penetrate enough to kill.

This statement will come back to bite me but, its all in how you blow. You can find them from six inches all the way up to five or six feet.

[Troutburger]

They are lots of fun, amazingly accurate. But not much of a survival tool with out a poison dart frog to coat the dart tips.

[Jonnin]

I am sure you could kill a small animal with it. If you have one and ammo, put it in your survival pack, sure. Can't hurt. If you do not have one, I wouldnt run out to get one though, pack an extra box of .22 or something instead.

[Backon4]

I'm thinking more along the lines to go with my slingshot. If ammo becomes an issue the darts, broadheads and sorts are small and fairly lightweight. I already have several 1000 rounds of 22lr as well as conversions for each of my AR's. I was just wondering how well they work and if it is worth the $25-$30 to get a decent one with plenty of extra darts to boot. Not on the top of my list but something I will look into in the future.

[Cherokee Slim]

I have two that I brought back from my work in the Colombian jungle. They are about 30" long. Neither has poison on the darts. Kids used to kill bats in attics with them. You could probably really tick off, maybe even kill a rat or squirrel with a real solid hit, if they are standing still. They don't have any real range on them. Indians killed monkeys up the tree canopy with them, but the gun was three meters long, and the darts poisoned. They still had to hit them 6 to 8 times each to kill one. I agree you may well be better off with a good sling shot and ball bearing.

Cherokee Slim

[seez52]

I've had one for years. They used to have a little ad in the back of gun magazines in the 80's. Mine is about 4 ft long and once you get your blowin' down, you can hit stuff pretty good. have never tried any of the broadhead style darts.

Is there a standard blow gun caliber? I used to have some plastic beads for making darts but can't find them anymore.

[DaveS]

In an actual survival situation, if it's within 30 yards, my .45 ACP and/or .357 would be better suited than a "dart gun".

[Guest rockbottom12]

has no one ever seen jungle to jungle? Jungle 2 Jungle (1997) - IMDb

[Guest RiseMechanical]

I believe most everyone would prefer a firearm of some sort, but to think a blowgun isn't a viable weapon could get you killed! I seen a guy pin a mouse to the base board of his house from around 15', shooting with a 3' tube and it was running along the wall. Taking a dart to the face would be most detrimental to your well being, even without poison, and taking small game(or any game for that matter) is more about shot placement. I'm just saying...

The link is to the Cold Steel blowgun and some of the coolest darts I've seen. I'd imagine there are videos with better accuracy though. Pretty cool, nevertheless, IMO.

[Moped]

My preference would also be for a firearm, but in a SHTF situation where I might have limited ammo, I'd rather have an air rifle for putting small game on the table. If not that, then a slingshoot with 00buck. I currently have a Daisy Powerline slingshoot that I keep in my BOB along with some ammo for it. I'd love to have a slingshot from this guy though.

Welcome To A+ Slingshots

[Guest RiseMechanical]

I don't want to stray too far off subject, but this is the slingshot I went with. It is as sweet as they come.

I like the compact size of the one above but in a SHTF situation, concealment/size shouldn't be that much of a problem, I'd think.

http://www.catsdomain.com/main.htm

[Moped]

Deleted my post to start another thread.

Edited January 27, 2011 by Moped
Deleted to start another thread.

[c.a.willard]

If you want to increase lethality, they make exploding tips for blowgun darts. There realtively inexpensive to. Still wouldnt beat a .22 for SHTF but could be entertaining.

[LngRngShtr]

back 10 years ago when I lived in Fla. I used to hunt "Palmetto Bugs" ( 2 1/2" cockroaches) in this dive of an apartment I used to live in... on weekends we would sit outside and "hunt" oranges for practice

you can get pretty good with them,.more of an instinctive shooting since no sights.. would probably need constant practice to get good enough for squirrels though and as one poster stated some poison might be an idea..

John

[Guest Hoppy]

I have been working a lot with different survival blowgun types and techniques and I am confident that a blowgun can be built from easy to acquire everyday materials in minutes and can be a deadly hunting weapon. I recommend to use copper tubing for a blowgun. This is easy to obtain ahead of time at any hardware store, or if the SHTF, then you can use a tube cutter or hacksaw under your house and make one pretty quickly. PVC is too flexible and conduit is too heavy. Copper is just right. I prefer to use 3/8" OD tubing, but whichever size you get then that dictates how you will make your darts. I prefer to cut the 8' tubing to about 5' and 3'. That gives me a long tube and a short tube. The short tube is less accurate at long distances, but is good for travel or for children to use.

I have made many different darts from steel shafts, bamboo skewers, arrow shafts, playing darts, and coat hangers. I have tried lengths from 3" to two feet. For cones I've used duct tape, rolled up magazine covers, hamburger wrappers, thistle down, hair, cotton balls, and ear plugs. For the tips I have used unmodified barbeque skewers, exacto blades, cut tips, and hammered tips. I have tried light weight, heavy weight, different balance points, etc.

What I have found to be the easiest to construct design with minimal time commitment or supplies, that has the most consistent speed and flight patterns is this: A coathanger and an earplug. It is deceptively simple, but extremely effective and lethal. Don't laugh this off. I've tried everything and this is a magical combination.

Select an earplug that fits snugly into your copper tubing. It should slide freely down the tube, but not have too much space around it. Actually, choose the earplug size first and then stick it in the ends of different diameter tubing at the store to find the best fit to get the right size tube. Cut the coathanger with a pair of snips. It should be cut about 6" long and you can get 4 from one hanger. Cut off the curved areas. It isn't worth the time to straighten them out, plus the slight curve can affect accuracy. Hammer the end of the hanger really flat. This takes 30 seconds. Cut the flattened tip at an angle with the snips. Sharpen the edge on a whetstone or other rock. The metal is really soft and will take about 30 seconds to sharpen. Slide the earplug onto the unmodified end of the dart so that the metal sticks out the end of the earplug. Slide the earplug down the shaft so that there is about 1/2" of hanger sticking out the end. If the earplug isn't completely pierced by the shaft then the earplug has a tendency to bounce off the shaft when you hit a target. I also like to spray paint the shafts bright orange so that they are easier to locate if I miss a target. Shoot away!

This dart is light weight and allows you to get good distance with minimal drop. This is important for accuracy and distance. With heavier darts, you must blow really hard to get any real distance and this spooks critters and they move before your dart arrives. With the sharpened coathanger technique you can make 4 effective hunting darts in under 2 minutes from materials you already have at home. My dart quiver is full of these and I love hunting squirrels and birds with them.

I hope this helps.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Hoppy
Additional info on dart design